To Summon Nightmares (2 page)

"This way," said Jacky, leading him downwards. He grasped the yellowed cord hanging from the ceiling and pulled, flooding the cellar with dim light from the bare, dusty bulb. Old boxes and skeletal wooden shelves cast long black shadows into the dark corners, and they seemed to move. Niall told himself that it was just his eyes playing tricks on him, but he was anxious to get this over with now. He pulled the heavy pack from his shoulders and set it on the ground, crouching to remove the contents.

He pulled out the heavy old book with the summoning ritual (to blame for most of the heaviness), and another binder with instructions he'd printed out online. Then there were the candles, a sturdy lighter, two boxes of white chalk, and a knife to cut them open with. Finally he pulled out a tape measure and enlisted Jacky's help to create the summoning circle.

"Does it have to take this long?" asked Jacky, after about twenty minutes of measuring and planning. "You haven't even started yet."

"It'll be faster once I've done the prep," said Niall. "It has to be perfect, Jacky, it's very important."

"I know," Jacky wandered over to look at the contents of the book in the dim light. "I'm just nervous."

"Me too." Niall straightened up and went to the bag, pulling out the first box of chalk. He dug the knife into the thick cardboard of the corner and sliced it off, creating a small spout for the chalk to pour through. "Okay, now to business."

He drew the circle, walking around the circumference and pouring the chalk over the lines he had traced in the dirt, the box in one steady hand and a paper with the image of the circle in the other. It had to match perfectly. Once he had drawn the main lines, he moved onto the details, opening the second box of chalk along the way. He was glad he'd thought to buy two.

When the time came to print the demon's name around the circle, he hesitated. He could just do Denusel; Jacky wouldn't know until it was too late. But no, he couldn't deceive Jacky like that. He'd decided on Khireneth, and Khireneth it was going to be. He printed the name in neat block letters, one on each side of the circle.

Jacky was bored at this point, sitting on a crate and watching Niall with his chin in his hands. "A year off each of our lives," he said. "You're sure that'll be a good enough sacrifice?"

"That's what it says in the book," said Niall distractedly.

"But what if we're meant to die tomorrow? What would happen then?"

"Then he'd probably refuse the offer. But it wouldn't matter that much anyway, since we'd just be dying tomorrow."

"How would he know, though? Can demons see the future?"

Niall stood to survey the circle once more. He almost had it right, but he had to be sure before placing each line. The chalk wasn't forgiving. "Some of them, I think. I don't know, they all have different powers."

"Wouldn't it be nice to have magical powers, Niall? I mean, not like the little spells you do, but real magic. Could solve all your problems that way."

"Mm, I imagine it'd drive you a bit evil, honestly." Niall stepped forward, carefully placing his feet in the space between the chalk, leaning forward to draw another precise line. "I mean, if you think about it, demons are probably evil
because
they have so much power, not just because they're a naturally evil race. Power corrupts you, right?"

"Not always, I don't think. Some people with great power do really great things. Like superheroes."

"Superheroes aren't real, Jacks. Okay, I think I'm done."

Jacky rolled his eyes. "Yeah, you say you're done, but you're gonna look it over another ten zillion times first; I've seen you do this stuff."

"Yeah, you're right." Niall stared at the circle on the floor, and then back at the paper, then back at the floor again, until the image was burnt into his mind. He went and picked up the book, and stared from the image on the page, and then to the floor, and then to the page again. Impatience gnawed at him, but he ignored it. This was very, very important.

At last he pronounced himself properly done, and Jacky jumped up to survey it. "It looks awesome."

"Now I just have to place the candles."

Jacky sighed. "That'll take another age, won't it?"

When it was at last complete, Niall looked at his mobile, surprised to see that it was nearly 1:30 in the morning. He didn't feel tired at all, his body practically vibrating with anticipation. "All right, let's do it. Jacky, come stand over here. I need you to read with me. Did you memorize the lines like I told you?"

"I did actually."

"All right, stand here, Jacky." Niall took Jacky's hands in his and kissed him. "I love you."

Jacky's lip was trembling. "I love you too, Niall, and I'm sorry about this."

Niall shook his head and reached down to grab the book. "Don't be sorry," he said. "I'm doing this for you because I want to. It'll make everything better."

Jacky nodded in agreement.

"All right." Niall looked down at the summoning ritual on the page. "Now, here and here's where you say Khireneth. You
must
pronounce it properly.
Khireneth
."

"Khireneth," repeated Jacky. "Got it. Here and here."

"Good," said Niall. "All right, on the count of three." He took a deep breath. "One. Two. Three."

They began to read. Perhaps it was only because they were concentrating on the book, but it seemed that the light dimmed and the candles flickered, despite the lack of wind. At first their reading was clumsy and awkward, but soon they began to pick up speed, their voices merging together effortlessly. They spoke faster and faster, until Niall was sure that the words were forming themselves, forcing themselves out of his mouth. There was no going back now.

A darkness was forming in the centre of the circle, a darkness that was not simply a shadow or an absence of light, but a darkness that banished light in the way light normally did darkness. The candles underneath it seemed to shimmer and dim, until they were all but non-existent, like blind spots in the corner of Niall's vision.

His tongue slid over the word Khireneth, like the slicing of a sharp knife, and then again, and it felt as if a thick powder was working its way up from his lungs to fill his mouth. Like chalk. He resisted the urge to cough and kept going. Jacky's voice was strong beside him, but he could hear him choking a little, too. As they reached the bottom of the page and the end of the incantation, it became almost impossible to talk, to breathe, to think. His mouth was filling with chalk, his vision with darkness. He could no longer see the words, he was reciting from memory, or from desperation. At last they came to the end and he spat out the last three words "Khireneth, Khireneth, Khireneth."

With the last sound, his mouth became unstopped like a bottle, and it was as if all sound hissed from the room. The candles blew out, the darkness expanded to envelop all. And then the darkness receded. The candles flickered back to light, and the sound came back into the room.

In the middle of the circle stood a man.

Niall wasn't surprised. He hadn't been expecting a hell beast or horns or anything of the sort. He knew that demons liked to appear as humans. To humans, at least.

He heard Jacky cough beside him and quickly turned to help him. Jacky hunched over, coughing until his voice became hoarse, while Niall held him. At last he straightened up, his eyes watering. Niall felt the need to cough too, but he forced it down.

The man was watching them patiently. It was difficult to look at him, somehow. As if it felt disrespectful. But that was probably just his demon's influence. They were in control here.

"Hello," said the demon in a bland, English accent. His voice was surprisingly normal. He sounded like a BBC newscaster, or a politician. "My name is Khireneth. What's yours? And where, might I ask, am I?"

"Don't tell him your name," said Niall to Jacky, who nodded.

The demon looked pleased. "Good decision," he said. "But I deduce by your accent that we are," he looked around. "Somewhere in Ireland? Go on, say something else."

Niall gritted his teeth. "We're not gonna tell you where we are."

"Somewhere near Cork, I'd say, but not quite that urban." He looked around again. "The countryside?"

"You don't know that," said Jacky, speaking up, although his voice wavered. "We could be anywhere, and just from Ireland."

"Ah, but you both have the same accent."

"We might be brothers," said Niall desperately.

"Oh, don't try that," said the demon. "You're obviously lovers."

Niall felt his face blanch. No one had guessed that. No one. They'd kept it such a good secret. And now this man had figured it out within a few minutes. "Never mind that, we have a proposition for you."

"Oh, and here I thought you'd just invited me round for tea."

"The—" Jacky swallowed. "The books say you call yourself Champion of the Oppressed."

The demon turned his head to look at Jacky, and Niall suddenly realized why the demon's appearance was so off-putting. His eyes were a bright, sunflower yellow. He raised his eyebrows at Jacky. "And you fancy yourself oppressed, do you? Yes, you do, I can see it in your eyes. Well, of course, I would love to help. In exchange for something else, of course."

"Right, yes," cut in Niall, feeling that the conversation was slipping out of his control in an uncomfortable way. "We'd like to offer you a year off each of our lives, in exchange for your help."

The demon turned those yellow eyes on Niall. "And what on earth would I do with that?" he asked.

Niall stuttered. "Th-the book said—"

"Yes, I'm not quite sure how I feel about your book, boy."

"My father," said Jacky. "I want him gone."

"Yes?" said the demon, still staring down Niall. "And is that your offer or your request?"

"W-what?" gasped Niall.

"Are you," said the demon, "offering me the boy's father, in exchange for something from me."

"No!" said Niall, but at the same time, Jacky cut in.

"What could you give us?" he asked. "In exchange for my father?"

"Are you mad?" cried Niall, but the demon had already turned to Jacky.

"In return for the body and soul of a wretched man?" He smiled. "So very, very much."

"No, J—" Niall gritted his teeth. He had to get Jacky's attention. "You can't!"

"Could you give me magic?" asked Jacky. "Like, powerful magic, like you have?"

"But of course," said the demon. "If that is what you want."

"It's not what we want!" said Niall. His heart was racing, his fists clenched. Jacky was about to make another one of his stupid decisions, and he had to stop him. "Our bodies aren't designed for that kind of power, it'd kill us!" He didn't know if that was true or not, but he needed Jacky to listen to him.

"On the contrary," said the demon. "It would take some practice, but the right person, I think, could wield such power fabulously."

Jacky had a strange look in his eye. Niall grabbed him, forced him to look at him. He wanted desperately to say his name, had to stop himself. "You can't do this. Your father—"

"My father deserves whatever he gets," said Jacky, his voice calm but full of vitriol at the same time, his eyes wide and terrible. "Niall, we have to do this!"

Niall could hardly comprehend what Jacky was suggesting. How could someone he loved even be
considering
...

Jacky turned back to the demon. "All right, I'll do it."

"No!" said Niall.

"Niall," Jacky turned to him. "Shut up."

The demon was standing, his arms crossed and a finger on his chin. "And who do I listen to?"

"Me!" said Niall. "I'm in charge here!"

"Really?" said the demon. "It doesn't seem that way."

"I accept your terms," said Jacky. "My father is sleeping in the bedroom on the top floor. You can have him in exchange for the power you spoke of. For me and Niall."

"I don't want it!" Niall gripped Jacky's arm, tried to pull him away from the demon, but Jacky retaliated, pulling Niall back with a surprisingly firm grip and then knocking him away with a swift blow. Niall fell backwards, too surprised to react.

"You'll thank me for it, later," said Jacky. He turned to the demon. "Do it."

The demon smiled, and nodded at the knife, discarded on the ground. Niall lunged for it, but Jacky got there first. "Blood," said the demon, and Jacky put the knife to his palm, slicing it open. Niall was crying, begging Jacky over and over, but Jacky wielded the knife at him when he tried to approach. He reached out for Jacky once more, and Jacky sliced at him, drawing blood from his arm.

Jacky grabbed him with his cut hand, smearing their blood together. The demon was at the edge of the circle, farther than he should have been able to go, holding a palm up to Jacky. Blood dripped from a sharp cut there, glinting in the candlelight.

"No, Jacky!" cried Niall, but Jacky reached up and pressed his palm to the demon's.

"Say the words," ordered the demon. "Release me, and it shall be done."

Jacky said the words, quickly and effortlessly. He must have memorized them, too. Or the demon had given them to him. His voice was liquid and gravel and then Niall felt chalk in his throat again, and he began to choke. Darkness swooped over them, the candles extinguished. Niall choked again, harder, desperately drawing in a breath. And then it felt as if, along with the air, the darkness entered him, pushing itself deep into him.

Then the pain began, and there was nothing else.

*~*~*

His body felt stiff when he awoke, but for a moment all he could feel was relief that the pain from last night was gone. It had gone on for hours, ripping through his body, pain like he'd never felt before. He'd broken his leg once, when he was eleven, and the pain he'd felt then was the closest he had ever come to this. But he hadn't wanted to die then, hadn't wanted it to all be over, just so the pain would stop. Last night he'd wished for death, wished he had never been born. But still the pain had continued, white hot and burning and tearing him apart from the inside. He'd been unable to see, unable to feel anything but the pain, and to hear his own screams mixed with Jacky's for hours and hours. When sleep had finally come, he'd clung to it desperately, letting it drag him down into oblivion.